The two men have a remarkable
number of similarities -- even the same last name -- yet could not be any
more different types of people. Allen Iverson and Johnathan Lee Iverson
are both 23-year-old African-American males who are at the top of their
professions. That Allen is the one idolized by American youth
tells us something about the direction in which America's values have gone.
Allen is an enormously talented, yet often controversial,
professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers. Johnathan
is the ringmaster for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus
who presides over all three rings and the sideshows. Allen is often
a sideshow himself, earning the nickname "Me, Myself and" Iverson.
They are both men with "firsts" on their resumes.
Johnathan is the first African- American ringmaster of the world's biggest
circus, which just finished appearances in Hartford and New Haven.
Allen was the first player to leave John Thompson's Georgetown basketball
program before the end of his senior year, departing for the NBA after
two collegiate seasons.
Both men had formative experiences early in life.
Allen was a 17-year-old football and basketball sports hero at Virginia's
Bethel high school when he was sentenced to a five-year prison term for
his role in a brawl in a local bowling alley. While there was a certain
amount of racial politics involved in the prosecution of the case and the
sentence was unusually harsh, Allen wasn't exactly a choir boy.
After four months behind bars, he was granted release by Governor Doug
Wilder.
Like I said, he was a sports hero.
Johnathan was, in fact, a choir boy. At age
11 Johnathan, who grew up in New York City, became a member of the world-regarded
Boys Choir of Harlem. The founder of the choir, Dr. Walter Turnbull,
remembers Johnathan as someone who worked tirelessly to get his singing
voice up to the group's rigorous standards.
Last summer was a busy time for both men.
Johnathan had just earned his bachelor's degree. Allen was fulfilling
his community service obligation stemming from an incident the previous
year when he and some friends were nabbed in his Mercedes doing 90 miles
per hour and were arrested on drug and weapons charges.
There is a Connecticut connection for both Iversons.
Johnathan's college degree is from the University of Hartford's Hartt School
of Music, which he attended on a scholarship for voice training.
Allen was born in Hartford to a single 15-year-old mother. She moved
to Virginia at the time of his birth. Allen's father, Allen
Broughton, did not play a role in his life.
A kid from my neighborhood in Hartford played on
the same Little League team as Broughton, who was known by the nickname
"Atlas." It was a widely-held belief on the team that the 12-year-old
"Atlas" could beat up any father in the league. Broughton plead
guilty last year to stabbing his ex-girlfriend and was sentenced to nine
years in prison.
Johnathan's father is a firefighter. His mother
works for the Postal Service.
I've seen Johnathan perform at the circus.
He has a mellifluous, opera-quality voice. Allen is in the music
business himself, having issued a CD which contains his own rap music.
"Take these fools to the trauma center, ‘cause I dismantle crews any battle
I enter" is a sample of Allen's lyrics.
Johnathan told the New York Times that he relishes
his role with the circus. "They spoil the ringmaster," he said, "It's
like I'm in the NBA."
Allen, of course, is in the NBA. He
has a six-year contract estimated to be in the neighborhood of $70 million.
He also has his own line of basketball shoes from Reebok with three styles
– The Answer ($124.99), The Answer II ($114.99) and The Question ($124.99).
"The Answer" is one of Allen's nicknames.
And judging by his popularity and the success of his sneakers, a lot of
kids think he is just that. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum &
Bailey Circus appears in the same arenas as the professional basketball
teams but not many kids, even those who have been to the circus, could
tell you who Johnathan is.
Kids have idolized professional athletes for as
long as there have been professional sports. Sometimes, as with the
case of Michael Jordan or Mark McGwire, it's pretty understandable.
But you have to question why it is that Allen Iverson
is now a member of the youth pantheon of heroes. It doesn't seem
right.
It makes you wonder where Joe DiMaggio really did
go.